Rehearsing for I-day

                         Louis surveys the parade dress rehearsal
                          One of the many military marching bands
                                Louis watching again
                               A local dance troupe
                                 The Faux-bamas

The US military weren't the only ones out rehearsing for Inauguration Day earlier. Babieswhobrunch used the dry run for the big day to do a little rehearsing of its own. We figured we might as well grab the chance to rehearse getting freezing cold watching the parade if we're going to try and venture out on 20 January. The practice run kicked off down at the Capitol, where PEBO (president-elect Barack Obama) was sworn in at around dawn this morning. Or at least his stand-in was. As that coincided with Louis finally going back to sleep after a night broken by his blocked nose, suffice to say we saw about as much of the swearing-in rehearsal as we're likely to on I-day itself. Unless we stay home and tune into CNN. 

But we did hit rehearsal gold a couple of hours later outside the White House by arriving just as the US Marine Band was striking up as it marched past the president's backyard. After a quick rendition of Hail to the Chief, the new chief - or at least his stand in - also marched part. Wearing a sign around his neck to signal his temporary president-elect status, Staff Sgt. Derrick Brooks strode through Farragut Square with his spouse stand-in LaSean McCray, a Navy yeoman first class (whatever that means) as onlookers scrambled for their cameras so that they could could claim a little bit of inauguration history for their own. An abridged version of the parade followed: highlights included the fat tuba players and the dancers from DC's Howard University, one of the country's oldest black colleges. 

Louis spent the morning doing his best drunk Russian general impersonation, watching the action from below the tilted brim of his fleece hat. The noise of the bands didn't seem to bother him, not even when clashing cymbals interrupted his morning nap. As far as rehearsals for the big day went, ours passed pretty smoothly. I suspect that was mainly because we didn't actually try to do anything difficult. Like push a stroller through a crowd of several tens of thousands or pull off an emergency diaper change. I didn't even have to feed Louis. Where that all leaves us come 20 January I'm still not sure. Especially as temperatures are forecast to plummet, complicating further the task of soaking up history in the making with a seven month old in tow.  

First Grandma

                  G'ma Penny gets to work on Christmas Day

Behind every great man stands a great woman, or so the old adage goes. And behind every great power couple stands a power grandma, or so the babieswhobrunch adage goes. Witness the Obama household: Barack's mother-in-law arrived in DC today ready to fill the void left when Daddy finally starts his job leading the free world and Mommy gets busy with her First Lady duties. 

Malia and Sasha already have Marian Robinson, Michelle's Mom, to thank for looking after them while their parents were on the campaign trail. They know they owe her: the president-elect (PEBO to Beltway insiders) told a reporter the girls' grandma was "one of the unsung heroes" of the election. 

So far Louis' grandmas have had it pretty easy. True, there's been presents to buy and the odd night of babysitting to do but that's about it. He's keen to know what his parents can achieve once his grandmas get to work. With two on the scene plus a great one down the road in Brighton, he's got high hopes once we move back to the UK. In the meantime, he will be watching events in the White House closely. 

Strollergate

      
Remember all those "My Mama's for Obama" toddler tops back in October? Or the "Obama 08" onesies? Well the president-elect apparently doesn't. Otherwise why would his inauguration planners be making it quite so hard for Moms to attend his swearing-in ceremony on 20 January? 

Just to stress the point that taking your baby along for the ride will be no picnic, Congress issued a special "advisory" aimed at making Moms feel less welcome than a vegan at a Texas barbecue. It pointed out that the day will be cold - "normally 37F at noon" - involve many hours of queueing and any infant incapable of walking will have to be carried - all day - because strollers are not allowed. Oh, and the only restrooms are portaloos and you can bet they won't be squeezing in any of those special diaper changers. By the time you're done "celebrating" you'll be cold, tired, hungry and probably wet because umbrellas are banned too. And your child will probably have pneumonia.

Bet you're not feeling quite so sore about not scoring one of those 240,000 golden swearing-in ceremony tickets now, huh? If you're a parent that is. The draconian I-day rules have sparked a big debate among DC Moms about whether they dare even venture out of the house on 20 January let alone anywhere near the Capitol with a small child in tow. The day will be a logistical nightmare. 

Slightly better news for those Moms just hoping either to catch a glimpse of the inauguration parade down Pennsylvania Avenue or to watch the ceremony from one of the giant TVs that will be scattered across the Mall. The stroller ban applies only to Capitol Hill. That means the other 1.25 million people predicted to cram into an area barely 1 mile by half a mile can bring all the strollers, umbrellas, rucksacks and diaper bags they desire, although presumably there still won't be anywhere actually to change a wet nappy. Or push a stroller. 

That said, I still want to take Louis. Even though he now weighs more than a small Alsatian. (It's all that veg puree.) I'm just waiting for the special inauguration souvenir baby slings. Maybe I should design one and cash in. 

Inauguration countdown

                                A new bric-a-Barack shop
                              An ad in a yoga shop window
                               The White House grandstand 

Major excitement in DC this weekend with the Obamas arriving in town. There are still 16 days until I-day (you can count them down on a special Obama advent calender that doubles up as an Inauguration countdown if you like) but the First Family had to get here early because term time starts on Monday for Malia and Sasha. Now there are two girls who are going to have their pick of the school cafeteria come lunchtime tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, Daddy O will have his head down preparing for the big day, much like the rest of the city, which has gone into overdrive readying itself for the presidential swearing-in. Entrepreneurial types are grabbing every opportunity to cash in on Obamamania. Inauguration souvenir shops have sprung up all over the city selling various bits of bric-a-Barack and today we spotted some guys flogging red, white and blue "change" wristbands at a local flea market. Check out the "Ombama" ad that the yoga-to-athletics store Lululemon had hanging in its window. 

On 20 January, the place to be is Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the Capitol to the White House. The route is symbolic as it will be Obama's first trip as President. Grandstands already line most of the wide road although all the bigwigs will have prime viewing from special stands being built outside the back of the White House itself, pictured above. 

It's less clear how Louis and I will manage to catch a glimpse of the action. I hardly fancy camping out the night before, plus strollers practically top a list of banned items (along with firearms, rucksacks and, if you're sitting in a ticketed area, umbrellas. I'm guessing diaper bags will also be unpopular). Still, we're determined to soak it all up somehow (literally if it's anything like as wet as it was on election day). No sign of a special babies' inaugural ball, although there is a children's one on the Sunday before at the Washington Historical Society featuring, among other things, a special display of how earlier presidents helped the DC kiddies. We'll have to check it out.  

Happy 2009

                         LJ at a little after midnight, 01.01.09

Louis hopes all his bwb fans had as good a start to the new year as he did. He saw in 2009 in some style after his parents finally got the message and let him stay up and join the party instead of fruitlessly attempting to lull him back to the land of nod once he woke up at 11.30pm. (If you can call dinner for four plus a sleeping 20 month old a party, although I fear you can: this Momhood malarky seems to mean that eating with anything apart from a magazine or the telly ranks as a big night.) 

Letting LJ stay up and play for a couple of hours instead of trying to coax him back to sleep made for a better night for us as well. It sure made a change from the usual pacing around until he drops off and then praying that this time he might just stay asleep for more than a couple of hours. I'm told that this business of waking up more rather than less at six-ish months is not unusual. I believe it's known as the six-month sleep regression. He's not being wilful; he just can't sleep because there is so much bubbling away in his head, not to mention throbbing through his sizable muscles. 

To be fair, LJ's had a big couple of weeks, mastering sitting up, crawling and cutting a couple of teeth. Which I guess explains why he spends half of his nights up on all fours, rocking back and forth instead of sleeping. I don't even think he knows he's doing it half the time. Something similar happened at three-ish months when he'd spend all night practising rolling over only to get stuck once he reached his stomach. Each time you flipped him back on his back, over he'd go again. These developmental milestones apparently occur at so-called "wonder weeks". The mumosphere is rife with talk of a magical book by a couple of Dutch researchers that sheds light on what's going on inside their little heads, but I don't think I can take anymore alleged magical books. (That said, we're about ready to start paying one of those sleep trainer people, or we would be if I had a big fat redundancy cheque heading my way.)

For now, I'm just hoping that along with walking and talking (more developmental milestones certain to break the night into yet smaller chunks) one of Louis' new year's resolutions might be to learn to sleep. Gina Ford would say that's something I'm supposed to be teaching him, which I guess means I'm already failing as a Mother a mere six or so months into the job. But nobody tell him that. Good night and Happy New Year blog fans.